The Devil Made Me Do It!
My husband brought up this interesting point the other day...
People use the cliché "The devil made me do it," when they are looking for an excuse for something bad they did.
But what's a Calvinist's excuse?
"Our Sovereign God made me do it!"
Of course, they don't say it out loud. But their theology tells them that God determines and causes everything that happens. So if they are being honest with themselves, they would have to say that God deliberately made them do the bad things they did.
But Calvinists will not go that far. They will hold to their beliefs that He causes all things, even the bad things, but they (well, most of them!) will stop short of verbally accusing Him of causing all the bad things. Because they know it's not right. So instead of being true to their errant theology, they get all wishy-washy and rambly, trying to backpedal and make their view more reasonable, saying things like, "Well, even though God causes all things, we are still responsible for the bad things we do. We don't know how it works; we just have to accept it."
Why don't they just say it like they really believe it: "God made me do it!"
At least then they'd be consistent in their heretical views.
Why don't they just say "God made me cheat, abuse, steal, destroy, lie, kill. I had no choice about it. He caused me to do it, for His glory."
And that's another thing. A Calvinist believes God causes all things for His glory. Even causing evil and sin. Even predestining people for hell and forcing them to be unbelievers. So if, as they believe, God caused them to do the bad things they do ... then why won't they give Him the glory for it?
They don't want to sound like they are accusing God of evil (yet that's exactly what they do!), so they backpedal and say that they are somehow actually responsible for the evil things God causes them to do, even though they believe God caused it for His glory. But then aren't they essentially stealing God's glory, taking credit for the evil things they do, when supposedly God is the one who caused it for His own glory?
If you are going to insist that God causes all the evil and bad things for His glory, then at least have the guts and decency to give God the "credit" for it, instead of insisting that somehow you are actually responsible for it!
Who are you, O Calvinist, to insist that you did the bad things that God caused you to do for His glory!?!
Or maybe, Calvinist, ... if something about all this just doesn't feel right, doesn't seem to match up with the Bible ... maybe it's time to start rethinking your Calvinism. Maybe it sounds wrong because IT IS WRONG!
And let me ask one more question to the Calvinist: If God causes all the evil that happens - if He causes people to lie and cheat and destroy and kill, if He causes people to not believe in Him so that He can put them in hell, if He lies to people about what His Will really is (such as telling Adam and Eve that He didn't want them to eat the fruit of the forbidden tree, when He supposedly willed and planned and caused them to eat the forbidden fruit), if He blinds people from seeing the truth, if He lies to us in His Word (such as a Calvinist says that we can't seek God even though the Bible tells us over and over again to seek God, and they say that God didn't really mean that He loved and died for everyone even though the Bible says He loved and died for everyone, etc.) - if this is the Calvinist's version of God ... a liar, deceiver, causer of evil and unbelief and murder and lies and abuse, wanting people in hell, leading people to hell, etc. ...
then what's the difference between God and Satan!?!
It sounds like exactly the same thing to me!
What, O Calvinist, are you believing about God and teaching others about God!?! I would figure it out pretty quickly ... before it's too late!
People use the cliché "The devil made me do it," when they are looking for an excuse for something bad they did.
But what's a Calvinist's excuse?
"Our Sovereign God made me do it!"
Of course, they don't say it out loud. But their theology tells them that God determines and causes everything that happens. So if they are being honest with themselves, they would have to say that God deliberately made them do the bad things they did.
But Calvinists will not go that far. They will hold to their beliefs that He causes all things, even the bad things, but they (well, most of them!) will stop short of verbally accusing Him of causing all the bad things. Because they know it's not right. So instead of being true to their errant theology, they get all wishy-washy and rambly, trying to backpedal and make their view more reasonable, saying things like, "Well, even though God causes all things, we are still responsible for the bad things we do. We don't know how it works; we just have to accept it."
Why don't they just say it like they really believe it: "God made me do it!"
At least then they'd be consistent in their heretical views.
Why don't they just say "God made me cheat, abuse, steal, destroy, lie, kill. I had no choice about it. He caused me to do it, for His glory."
And that's another thing. A Calvinist believes God causes all things for His glory. Even causing evil and sin. Even predestining people for hell and forcing them to be unbelievers. So if, as they believe, God caused them to do the bad things they do ... then why won't they give Him the glory for it?
They don't want to sound like they are accusing God of evil (yet that's exactly what they do!), so they backpedal and say that they are somehow actually responsible for the evil things God causes them to do, even though they believe God caused it for His glory. But then aren't they essentially stealing God's glory, taking credit for the evil things they do, when supposedly God is the one who caused it for His own glory?
If you are going to insist that God causes all the evil and bad things for His glory, then at least have the guts and decency to give God the "credit" for it, instead of insisting that somehow you are actually responsible for it!
Who are you, O Calvinist, to insist that you did the bad things that God caused you to do for His glory!?!
Or maybe, Calvinist, ... if something about all this just doesn't feel right, doesn't seem to match up with the Bible ... maybe it's time to start rethinking your Calvinism. Maybe it sounds wrong because IT IS WRONG!
And let me ask one more question to the Calvinist: If God causes all the evil that happens - if He causes people to lie and cheat and destroy and kill, if He causes people to not believe in Him so that He can put them in hell, if He lies to people about what His Will really is (such as telling Adam and Eve that He didn't want them to eat the fruit of the forbidden tree, when He supposedly willed and planned and caused them to eat the forbidden fruit), if He blinds people from seeing the truth, if He lies to us in His Word (such as a Calvinist says that we can't seek God even though the Bible tells us over and over again to seek God, and they say that God didn't really mean that He loved and died for everyone even though the Bible says He loved and died for everyone, etc.) - if this is the Calvinist's version of God ... a liar, deceiver, causer of evil and unbelief and murder and lies and abuse, wanting people in hell, leading people to hell, etc. ...
then what's the difference between God and Satan!?!
It sounds like exactly the same thing to me!
What, O Calvinist, are you believing about God and teaching others about God!?! I would figure it out pretty quickly ... before it's too late!
A thought-provoking 4-minute video worth watching: Hitler and Calvinism
